A library assistant's take on the famous "23 Things" and beyond. Follow me, MNLibraryGrrl @ Twitter.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Podcasting for Libraries: Part 2

2). Programming Content

Copyright Law & Content

Copyright prohibits the use of a work by anyone other than the author. It is a common mis-perception that if you are not benefiting or making money from the work that you can use it as you will, however, this is not true. The Disney Corporation and various music production companies are well known for guarding their assets to the teeth so it is a good idea to take copyright infringement lightly, either ethically or financially.

For a work to be in the public domain it must be:

Published prior to 1923

or

Published without copyright notice between 1923 and 1977

or

Published with notice between 1923 and 1963 but copyright was not renewed

or

Published between 1978 and March 1, 1989 but without notice and without subsequent registration within 5 years

Otherwise the work still has copyright on it. Notice that all these laws change from country to country – you might not be able to use a book here in the US but find that it is within the public domain in another country. For more information, visit http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/

Certain exceptions do apply. The doctrine of “fair use” allows for limited reproduction of a work for scholarly purposes, criticism and comment. For more information, visit:http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html